Brewed with baby ginger from Casselmonte Farm and wildflower honey from Bearer Farms, Hardywood Gingerbread Stout captures the terroir of central Virginia in a rich, creamy libation with a velvety mouthfeel and an intriguing evolution of flavors from milk chocolate and vanilla to honeycomb and cinnamon to a snap of ginger in the finish.

Deep, dark chocolate in color with a mahogany tint and a frothy, caramel colored head, Hardywood Gingerbread Stout offers aromatics of holiday spice originating from the ginger, and balanced with a generous dose of whole Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans and Vietnamese cinnamon. Milk sugar (lactose) contributes to the full body of this stout and tames its roasty character, while oats lend a silky quality. Enjoy fresh, or cellar for a special occasion. We hope Hardywood Gingerbread Stout contributes to your merriment this season.

Oh this is good. The sweet is complex, it is caramel and molasses and chocolate frosting, and it is the main player, but the supporting cast is ginger, herbal bitter, mild roasty bitter, and alcohol warming spice to kind of mix it all together. No flavor is over the top here, it is bright but well balanced and perfectly restrained.

Very light in the mouth despite the huge flavors, medium carb., fantastic, superclean finish, its best feature because of how hard it is to keep spice resin from building in a ginger beer. Most impressive thing about this beer.

Great Stout, Not often do I choose a strong stout in the summertime, but I wanted to try this one after some yard work. Pours a dense black color with a huge dark tan head. Head retention is good and no light gets through the glass. Aroma is good but is still the least impressive part of this beer. Some malt and a little ginger are present in the aroma. Flavor is very impressive. The ginger and cinnamon taste like the actual fresh spices not the hodge-podge potpourri like so many beers that feature ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice or other"holiday type spices.The spices are backed up by a slightly sweet milk stout. With so much flavor going on, whatever lactose flavor that might be present in a milk stout is not apparent. Mouthfeel is great. Smooth and rich like a milk stout should be. No hint of the alcohol. The spices play well on the tongue. This is a superior beer for all seasons. (905 characters)

A: Pours a translucent, coca cola brown from the bottle. Settled in to the glass a much, much deeper color. Opaque. May as well call it black. Loose, mocha head (1 1/4 finger) head. Swirling the glass leaves some decent lacing.

S: Liquid ginger snap cookies. An almost spiced (think pumpkin) cake aroma. Hint of chocolate. A subtle sweetness that I'll attribute to the honey. They absolutely nailed this. Definitely the best "spiced/holiday" stout that I have ever sniffed.

T: Gingerbread spice. Honey is more revealing in the taste. There is also a slight cinnamon like quality. Lactose is of a milk stout more prevalent on the palate. Finishes with a very subtle bitterness. Very, very tasty.

F: Ligher bodied beer for the style. A little think, but soft on the palate in a very pleasant way. I looked at the glass after 3 or so minutes and wondered where it all went - this one disappears very easily considering the ABV.

O: Awesome spiced stout. Best on the nose that I've ever smelled. Slightly less satisfied with the taste...but not disappointed in the slightest. Very much worth seeking out.

Note to self: I HAVE to try this side by side with Saint Arnold's Pumkpinator. (1,186 characters)

This beer was most likely over hyped before i first had it, which doesn't help the problem. When I read "gingerbread", I expected this punch of spice along with the ginger. Its missing that initial hit. Otherwise, very well executed. I've gone way out of the way to get it and will continue to do so if necessary. (317 characters)

APPEARANCE: Black beer with some ruby red shining through around the edges. About a quarter-inch of foam covered the surface for 30 seconds or so when it was first poured, but disappeared almost entirely after that.

SMELL: Well, good start with this beer! It smells like candied ginger.

TASTE: BIG ginger taste with a little sugary sweetness and dark chocolate. A hint of roast, but not enough to make it taste coffee-like. As the beer warms some more subtle flavors come out with a little more spice, some vanilla and the chocolate intensifies too.

MOUTHFEEL: Medium to big body. The carbonation is very light, but enough ginger to provide a little bite.

OVERALL: The aggressive ginger sets this apart from some other beers brewed with ginger that I've had. And, I'd put this near the top of that very specialized category. Good stuff. (852 characters)

T- the base milk stout is immediately noticeable with a sweetness that hits the tongue and adds a sugary aspect. The spices kick in after, with flavors of fresh ginger, cinnamon, clove & nutmeg. Notes of molasses and burnt bread mix with cocoa and chocolate. The linger leaves flavors of vanilla bean and gingerbread, with a light honey sweetness

EBF sample. Poured black or something close to it. Small, dark brown head, I remember that. The smell does have a legit gingerbread tone to it. It also smells chocolatey. Holiday spices. Flavor has the conventional roast and chocolate. These flavors are accompanied by gingerbread, cinnamon and actual ginger. None of these are overbearing. Flavors play well together and it actually isn't as sweet as I was initially expecting. Relatively full bodied. I thought this beer was pretty interesting and I surely doesn't fall into the category of being hokey. The flavors are natural. It doesn't come off as artificial. I'm thankful for that. (638 characters)

From a cork & caged 750 into a snifterVintage 2014IBU: 55Milk stout with ginger, honey, cinnamon and vanilla

APPEARANCE: A clear, light brown pour yields a big, three finger, foamy, looser, light tan head with good retention. Bistre brown body, clear, with a bit of carbonation evident. Head fades to a full wisp and clings to the sides of the glass, but it does eventually end up looking rather flat by the end. Too light a body as well, and the head is rather unimpressive.

SMELL: Milder nose of milk sugars, ginger, and some honey is there. Light toffee notes as well. No real roast there and doesn’t come across as ginger bread-ish.

TASTE: Ginger, some toffee and then some honey at the swallow. Bolder finish of ginger, cinnamon, honey, some milky sweetness and bitter chocolate flavors as well. Cinnamon and ginger linger on the palate. Bitter sweet with plenty of sweetness up front.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Creamy enough on the palate, goes down smooth and finishes a bit sticky. Maybe a bit too much carbonation for the style. Alright, otherwise.

OVERALL: Okay I guess. Can't believe this one is held so highly, actually. The look is certainly wanting and the base stout, not surprisingly, seems to be rather weak, but the adjuncts make it interesting enough. Wish they had put a little more effort into a solid stout base before they went around throwing stuff in it. We moved on to the bourbon barrel version afterwards and to be honest, that one wasn’t much more impressive either. Perhaps a touch of oak but it was much the same. A disappointing set, unfortunately. Still, these things are always fun to try, so cheers for the brews SiddFinch! (1,763 characters)

Bottle from Joe. Thanks! Pours dark brown to black with a massive khaki brown head that sticks around a good bit. Flavor is light roast that bursts into a big punch of gingerbread cookie, but not overly spicy at all, nice light sweetness on the finish balances things well. Body is on the thinner side for an imperial stout, and it would be really nice to see this thickened up with some chocolate to support the nice spice. That would be delicious. As is, it is very yummy and highlights the shizz out of the gingerbread cookieness without being just ginger spice. Nicely done. (579 characters)

This is a lot less sweet than thought it would be. It's pretty "spicy," with nutmeg, cinnamon, lactose and vanilla, with a little bit of chocolate. The spices are done well, but a small amount seems sufficient with how intense the ginger is.

This is medium bodied- I wish it was slightly thicker, but it does have a pretty dry and creamy mouthfeel. It has a lower level of carbonation.

This wasn't quite as good as I was expecting, but it's still quite tasty. (683 characters)

Wasn't a big fan of this really. It's not bad but the taste to me was just not great. As far a dessert beers this one is not for me. If you love gingerbread it would likely be good. Quality beer but I wouldn't seek out if it was in my distro (241 characters)

Appearance - The stout was black in appearance with mocha colored bubbles lining the sides of the glass.

Smell - The ginger is well noted here, with sweet burnt sugar and perhaps graham cracker.

Taste - This is literally a liquid gingerbread cookie. Big ginger is present in the front with burnt sugar, and the smooth creaminess of a milk stout laying the backbone. The milkiness is like washing the cookie down with milk. The impressions of gingerbread fall in line with a biscuity cookie notes. The ginger lingers in the smooth aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - The mouthfeel on this one is smooth with little carbonation. The burnt sugar notes are allowed to linger.

Overall - This is among my favorite milk stouts and a great holiday beer. (738 characters)

This beer had a pronounced ginger and cinnamon smell. It tasted like ginger and hot cinnamon, and alcohol. I did not taste any stout flavor. I was underwhelmed by this beer as I am underwhelmed by all these newbies who love koolaid beer. You used to have to acquire the taste for beer, but now many brewers cater to the narrow pallets of children. (347 characters)

2014 vintageI don't quite get this one, but apparently I'm in the minority based on other reviews. Fresh ginger is definitely present in the nose and the taste, but it's quite lacking in gingerbread cookie and milk stout flavors (like I was hoping for). Instead it tastes and smells more like somebody mixed a light stout with Coca-Cola and a Jamaican ginger beer soda. It's also quite thin with more carbonation than it should have. I was hoping for a thicker body with more robust and cookie-like stout flavors, so this is very disappointing. (545 characters)

wow was this one a great trade item! pours beautifully with a thick dark caramel head. lots of roastiness to this one along with small hints of gingerbread. while the taste is not a HUGE gingerbread hit, I enjoyed that as I was scared it would be too strong. with a nice smooth finish this one was treat! now to find the variants. (335 characters)

This beer is amazing. My only complaint is that it is so hard to get. Also if I could rate the smell above a 5 I would I literally keep smelling the empty glass after it's gone. Amazing. (186 characters)

Look-color is a root beer brown, pretty opaque, pours a half finger of tan, frothy head that settles into spotted lacing.Smell- Gingerbread! Biscuits, cinnamon, hints of nutmeg, dried ginger, and honey.Taste-Gingerbread! Biscuity sweetness perfectly laced with cinnamon, nutmeg, pinch of dried ginger, honey in the finish, then comes Malty toastiness, reminding you that this is a fine stout. slightest hint of boozy warmth in the finish.Feel- medium bodied, mild carbonation, creamy upfront, finishes with just a bit of chalkiness in the throat. it in no way makes the beer unpleasant but it is a bit off putting.Overall- this beer is delicious, and tastes just as advertised. gotta love that. get it. (706 characters)

The beer pours a very strong head that comes in the forms of small dark tan bubbles. The beer itself is a very dark brown that almost appears black. The beer leaves quite a bit of lacing.

The beer smell has very strong spice notes and honey notes. The spices come in the form of ginger and cinnamon while the honey comes off as sweet but not artificially and adds a smoothness to the smell that isn't normally found. The smell also has milk chocolate notes that actually gets a little lost in the honey, but supplements its sweetness with a tiny hint of bitterness.

The beer has a very strong gingerbread and spicy taste to it. The beer has various spices from ginger to cinnamon to a very strong honey taste. The beer also has a milk chocolate taste but the more dominate notes seem to be the honey and spices, which is fantastic when combine with the chocolate. In this case, dominate is a relative term, the different tastes work very well together that it is hard to describe any of the notes without referencing the others. All I can say is that this beer is absolutely divine in its taste.

The mouthfeel is extremely smooth and velvety. The tiny carbonation adds a little bit texture but mainly adds to the velvet feel. The beer is heavy bodied but surprisingly light due to the use of honey.

Overall, this is the perfect beer. I can find very few flaws, but event those aren't worth mentioning. This beer is, without a doubt, one of the best stouts ever produced. The The way the ingredients work together to create a wonderful and complex, yet simple, taste and smell is amazing. You really have to buy this beer to understand just how good it is. (1,659 characters)